Charlotte Artist Uses Murals to Comment on Black Culture

Entitled “The Essence of Kindness,” this piece was part of a campaign for a local nonprofit, AboutFace Charlotte, and is now on permanent display at the Levine Children’s Hospital.

Jamil Dyair Steele

Uses Art to Interpret Black Life

By William Carter, Jr.

The Black Lives Matter mural that Jamil Dyair Steele painted on South Tryon Street in Uptown Charlotte after the violent deaths of George Floyd and Breonna Taylor last summer was a seminal cultural moment in the Queen City that will surely be chronicled in the city’s permanent history. Steele’s mural is on permanent display at the Mint Museum Uptown in the Carroll Gallery.

The City of Charlotte selected Steele’s “Heritage of Biddleville” mural design as the winner of Charlotte’s I-77 and West Trade Street underpass project proposal request. Steele will receive $30,000 and a 185-foot mural installation of his winning design. The mural celebrates the Black culture of the Historic West End and will complete 2012’s “Passing Through Lights” public exhibit, which illuminates the underpass. The North Carolina Department of Transportation is currently in the final stages of approval for Steele to begin painting the project.

Steele said he was ecstatic when he won the proposal because it was “a great opportunity to capture the essence and vibrancy of the West End community.” He added, “I grew up in this community and it’s important to me to tell and help preserve its rich history.”

The concept of Steele’s awardwinning mural expands upon his earlier work called “Biddleville,” which depicts a young Black boy with long flowing hair containing iconic symbols of Historic West End, such as the Excelsior Club and Johnson C. Smith University.

As a commissioned artist, Steele uses his striking artwork to influence and creatively frame his hometown neighborhood, West Charlotte. His works include the “Charlotte Past, Present, and Future” mural located in Charlotte’s Historic West End, and three sidewalk murals on Montford Drive in South Charlotte.

His work has also been showcased in various eclectic and diverse venues around Charlotte, including the McColl Center, Spirit Square, NoDa@28th Creative Arts Studio and Romare Bearden Park’s Annual Arts Festival.

Steele was the lead artist for the AboutFace Charlotte’s Blessing Box

Campaign in 2018. The painting he created for the project depicted children’s compassion and kindness, and honored a former student who had advanced kidney disease.

Steele was also chosen to design glass panels for the West Boulevard and Remount Road bus terminals. Steele considers the project especially significant, granting him the opportunity to pay tribute in the design to four local greats — Charles Parker, Judy Williams, artist TJ Reddy, and Charlie Sifford (his great uncle). The bus shelter designs are tied to a larger intersection renewal project, so the timeline for them to be installed is not yet known.

Steele, a certified art educator for 15 years, teaches various art techniques including drawing, sculpting and painting at area elementary, middle and high schools. He earned his Bachelor of Fine Arts from the University of North Carolina at Charlotte and his Master of Art Education from Winthrop University.

He has cited several influences on his artistic style: Ernie Barnes, Kehinde Wiley, Norman Rockwell and others. “I am also influenced by my dad who also had a passion for art,” Steele said. “He wasn't a professional artist, however, I loved to watch him draw in his spare time. Once he drew a portrait of my mom that looked just like her. It was truly a memory that I will cherish for life.”

Above: Jamil Dyair Steele created this mural after the murder of George Floyd and the protests that followed. Steele’s art was among other murals and artistic expressions that the times inspired. Below: The mural behind Steele is the inspiration for his I-77 and West Trade Street underpass project.

Two of Steele’s designs for the West Boulevard Bus Shelter

One of Steele’s future endeavors includes Project Protégé, a 10-week program funded through the Foundation For The Carolinas’ Reemprise Fund that pairs 18- to 23-year-old creatives with artistic mentors to help establish and nurture the skills required to manage careers in art successfully.

With Project Protégé, Steele hopes to help aspiring artists avoid the pitfalls he faced throughout his career. It's also an opportunity to build creative kinship with fellow artists, he added. “Together we are powerful and can use our collective talents to bring awareness to social issues that affect all of us in the greater Charlotte community.”

Along with creating art, the ambitious program will also focus on the business aspects of art, including artist bios and statements, grant proposals and pricing for artwork and services — things that provide protégés with a competitive edge in their artistic careers. The program starts in January 2022. P